Gauge and starting mechanism for presses and analogous machines



E. V. CRANE March 29, 1932.

GAUGE AND STARTING MECHANISM FOR PRESSES AND ANALOGOUS MACHINES FiledAug. 5. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR fl fl'm,

By Attorneys, Jaw ,777 q! i1 P mumnvmm l March 29, 1932. E v CRANE1,851,753

GAUGE AND STARTING MECHANISM FOR PRESSEJS AND ANALOGOUS MACHINES speedof -EDWABD V. CRANE, O1 BROOKLYN,

the press such as would result if the fee Patented Mar. 29, 1932.

uurrso STATES PATENT OFFICE OF NEW YORK,N. Yr,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO. E..W. BLISS COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE .GAUGEAND STAB'I'INGiEECHANISK FOR PRESSES ANDANALOGCUS MACHINES Application filed August 5, 1930. Serial No. 473,270.

This invention relates to an improved gauge and starting mechanism forpresses and analogous machines having intermittent feeding means. It isparticularly adapted for use on punch presses and similar devices havingmeans for intermittently feeding and operating on sheet ,metal, and inwhich the operation is such as to make hand gaugin and startingimpracticable, if not impossi le.

It is an object of the invention to provide means whereby theintermittently-operated feed-rolls may be separated as the gaugeforpositioning a new sheet of material to be fed into the press is set, andmeans controlled and operated by the driving mechanism of whereby returnmovement of the gauge to free the sheet and the restoration of thefeed-rolls to their feeding relationship may be prevented throughout therotational period of the feed-rolls but permitted throughoutsubstantially the entire period during which the feed-rolls are at.rest, thus preventing an incomplete feedinfoperation -rolls wererestored to their feedingrelationduring the period of rotation.

It is a further object of the invention to.

provide a press or analogous machine with a gauge and starting mechanismof the above-- described character, the parts of the improvement beingso related to the feed-rolls that the latter may be adjusted as to theirposition with respect to the body portion of the machine withoutinterfering with the proper transmission of movement from the parts ofthe mechanism mounted on the body portion to those mounted on therelatively movable portion in which the adjustable elements are carried.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of theinvention- Figure 1 is a front view of a press having the inventionapplied thereto, certain parts upon which the invention is not dependentbeing omitted for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the right end portion of the press drawn to alarger scale, parts being broken away to disclose internal structure.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the part of the press illustrated in Fig. 2,parts being omitted and parts being broken away to disclose internalstructure.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a part of the press illustratedby Fig. 2, the plane of section being represented by the line 4-4, andthe parts being viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion'of the mechanism illustrated inFig. 2, the parts being represented. as having been locked in thepositions to which they are moved in order to set the gauge and separatethe feedrolls.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the mechanism illustratedin Fig. 5, the plane of section being represented by the line 6-6, andthe parts being viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the gearing by which thefeed-rolls are intermittently rotated.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view of the gearing connecting thefeed-rolls at opposite ends of the machine so as to cause them to berotated in synchronism.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the press may comprise a frame consisting ofa bed supported on legs 21 and having uprights 22 at the opposite endsconnected at the top by a head 23.

In any appropriate part of the frame may be mounted a main drive-shaft24 provided with the usual fly-wheel 25 and having a crank (eccentric)26 connected by means ofa pitman 27 with a punch or other tool slide 28mounted forreciprocation in guides 29.

The means by which sheet material may be fed through the press to beoperated on by punches or other tools secured to the slide 28 maycomprise pairs of rolls 30, 31, and 80, 31, by which the sheet materialWmay be caused to enter the press at the'right side as viewed in Fig. 1,passed over a suitable die mounted on the bed 20 to cooperate with theunches or other tools mounted on the tool slide 28, and thence caused topass out of the machine at the left end, as indicated by the arrow onFig. 1.

These rolls 30, 31 may be intermittently rotated by appropriate gearinconnected with the main drive-shaft 24. he form of gearing adapted forsuch use is illustrated and described in the patent to Strout, No.1,740,844, issued December 24, 1929. As briefly illustrated by thediagrams F1 s. 7 and 8, this gearing may comprise a cran 32 fixedlysecured to a gear wheel 33, which may be driven from a gear wheel 34 onthe main drive-shaft 24 through the intermediary of an idler 35. Themovement of the cran 32 may be transmitted to the rolls by means of apitman 36 connected at one end to the crank and having a rack 37 whichmay be reciprocated in a guide38 so mounted as to be free to rock aboutthe center of the shaft 39. Mounted in the guide. 38 is a one-way clutch40 having peripheral teeth in meshed engagement with the rack 37 and afriction driving element by which it is connected with the shaft 39.This connection, as more fully illustrated and described in theaforesaid Strout patent, is such that on downward movement of the pitmanthe shaft is rotated, whereas on upward movement of the pitman the shaftremains at rest. These intermittent rotations of the shaft 39 may becommunicated to the lower feed-rolls 30, 30' by means of bevel gears 41,41, fixedly secured to the shaft and bevel gears 42, 42, fixedly securedto the shafts carrying the rolls.

The extent of the rotation to be imparted to the feedrolls at eachstroke of the pitman may be varied by making the crank 32 of adjustablelength, and, if desired, the motion imparted to the feed-rolls 30, 30may be positively communicated to feed-rolls 31, 31"

in any appropriate manner, as by means of meshed spur gears 43, 44, and43, 44.

Preferably the crank 32 (Fig. 7) should be so positioned with respect tothe crank 26 (Figs. 1 7), by which the punch or tool slide 28 isoperated, as to cause the feed-rolls to be rotated during the last halfof the upward movement and the first half of the downward movement ofthe slide, and so as to cause the feed-rolls to remain at rest duringthe last half of the downward movement h and the first half of theupward movement of the slide. 1

If desired, the feed-rolls 30, 31 and 30, 31' may be mounted incarriages 45 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4), each of which, with its work-support 46(Fig. 2), may be moved vertically with respect to the frame of the pressto a sufli cient extent to the level of the rolls and work-supports 46with respect to the die or wor -plate (not shown) mounted on the bed 20.This may be effected by means of bolts 47 48 (Figs. 2 and 4) havingtheir heads heldin vertical undercut slots or recesses 49 in the frameof the press, and b; nuts 50 which may be loosened to permit t ecarriages and the shafting provide for an adjustment of 1 of theroll-rotating mechanism to be raised or lowered. After the loosening ofthe nuts the carriages may be raised by rotating the lifting screws 51(Figs. 1 and 2), and, when it is desired to lower the carriages, thescrews 51 may be turned in the opposite direction until the carriagesare moved to the desired level by the force of gravity. This adjustablefeature of the carriages for the feed-rolls is more fully illustratedand described in the aforesaid Strout patent.

The means whereby the roll 31 may be separated from the roll 30 when anew sheet of material is to be inserted may comprise a rock-shaft 52(Fig. 2) having arms 53 extending underneath the bearings of the roll 31and an arm 54 by which the rock-shaft may be rotated when the roll is tobe lifted. Extending inwardly from the rock-shaft 52 is a second arm 55,which may be engaged by a tappet 56', yieldingly mounted in the toolslide 28, as it descends, whereby the roll 31 may be separated from theroll 30 so as to permit the punch or other tool to adjust the positionof the plate preparatory to the punching operation or other work to beaccomplished. A duplicate roll-lifting device, having an arm 55 (Fig. 1)to be engaged by a tappet 56, may be provided to separate the rolls 30,31 at' the left side of the machine as the tool slide approaches thelowermost limit of its stroke.

The gauge 57, by means of which the end of a new sheet of material to befed into the press may be accurately positioned, may be izieldinglymounted in a block 58, which may e moved to any desired position alongthe arm 55 and secured in place by a set screw or other appropriatefastening device 59.

The rock-shaft 52 carrying the arms 53, 54 and 55 will preferably bemounted, as shown, in the vertically-adjustable roll-carriage, and meansnow to be described may be mounted on any appropriate part of the frameof the machine whereby the gauge and roll-separating device may beoperated. One satisfactory form of operating device, as best illustratedin Fig. 2, comprises a lever 60 aving an arm 61 to engage a finger orpushpin 62 adjustably mounted in the arm 54, and

a second arm 63 coupled by means of a connecting rod'64 with a pedal orother suitable operating element 65 pivotally secured to one of the legs21 at 66. The connecting rod 64 may be normally held in av position suchas to cause the arm 61 of the lever 60 to be slighty spaced from the endof the push-pin 62 by means of a spring 67 confined between a collar 68,which may be adjustably secured to the connecting rod 64 by a set screw69, and a lug 70 extendin outwardly from the leg 21 to which the pe a1is secured.

On pressin spring 67 wil be compressed and the lever 60 will be rockedto a position such as to enthe pedal downwardly the v constitutesanother important gage and move the push-pin 62 and arm 54 in which itis mounted, thus rotating the rock-shaft 52 and causing the gauge 57 tobe set and the feed-roll 31 to be se arated from the roll 30 asindicated in ig. 5. Springs of any appropriate strength (not shown) maybe provided to restore the feedroll 31 to its feedin position withrespect to the feed-roll 30 a ter aplate has been inserted and the pedalreleased.

It is important that the relations between the parts of thegauge-setting and roll-separating device mounted in thevertically-adjustable carriage 45 and the parts of the device mounted onthe machine frame be such that the rolls may be separated and the gaugeset by the operation of the pedal irrespective of the varyin positionsof adiustment of the carriage. is is satisfactori y effected by themechanism herein disclosed, having the operating arm 54-, on therock-shaft 52 and the arm 61- of the lever disposed in a relationship ofapproximate parallelism so that the rocking of the lever 60 will rockthe shaft 52 throu h the intermediary of the push-pin 62 and arm 54,irrespective of the vertical displacements of the carriage, to adjustthe feed-rolls to different positions relative' to the dies or toolsused in the press. This is one of the important novel features of theinvention.

In a machine of the above-described char acter it is of importance thatthe restoration, of the feed-rolls to their feedin relationship, afterthey have been separate for the pur" pose of inserting and gauging theposition of a new sheet of material, take place while the feed-rolls areat rest, so that the first rotative period of the feed-rolls will impartto the sheet a movement equal to-that which it receives at eachsubsequentrotative period of the rolls. In machines in which the feedingis of relatively low speed this can be accomplished by a handmanipulation of the operator, who, by careful observation, can determinethe proper time to release the pedal and permit the rolls to be restoredto feeding relation. In high speed machines this is practicallyimpossible. Without the aid of automatic controlling means the rollswouldoccasionally, if not frequently, be permitted to be restored totheir feeding relatlonship durin one of the rotative periods of thefeedro ls, thus causing the sheet to receive but a partial advancementprior to thefirst operation of the punch or other tool carried by thetool slide. The automatic means, now to be described, for controllin therestoration of the feed-rolls to their eedin relationship eature of thisinvention. This controlling means comprises a bar or bolt 71 (Figs. 2and 3) movable at its lower end through a guide 72 into a position justback ofa hook or stop 73 on the lever 60 when. it is rocked by the pedalinsertion of a new sheet.

and connectingrod 64 to the position in which it causes the roll 31 tobe separated from the roll 30. The upper end of the rod 71 may beconnected to one arm 74: of a lever 7 5, the other arm 76 of which maybe provided with a roller 7 7 to be engaged by a cam 78 on the maindrive-shaft 24.

Any appropriate means may be provided to cause the bolt 71 to move toits holding position with respect to the lever 60 when operated toseparate the feed-rolls. As herein disclosed, such means comprises aspring 79 having one end connected to the arm 74 of the lever 7 5 andthe other connected to any suitable part of the machine frame, as at 80.

The cam 7 8 on the drive-shaft 24 should be so related with respect tothe crank 26 which operates the tool slide28 and the crank 32 (Fig. 7)which operates the gearing by which the feed-rolls are intermittentlyrotated, as to cause the roller 77 to be free from the cam surface 78throughout the entire rotational period of the feed-rolls while the toolslide is completing its upward stroke and beginning its downward stroke.This will cause the cam 78 to be so positioned with respect to thecranks 32 and 26 as to cause the bolt 71 to be withdrawn from itsengagement with the hook or stop 73 at the termination of the rotationalperiod of the feed-rolls and permit them to be restored to their feedingrelationship while at rest. This will also take place during the lastpart of the downward movement of the tool slide and the first part ofits upward movement.

he operation of the machine need be but briefly described in View of theforegoing disclosure of the various parts of the mechanism.

Assuming that the press is in operation and that all of the requiredwork on one sheet of material has been completed, the pedal 65 isdepressed in order to set the gauge 57 and separate the feed-rollspreparatory to the The end of this sheet of material is then insertedbetween the rolls 30,31, until obstructed by the face of the gauge 57.During this operation the feed-rolls 30, 31 may be rotated any number oftimes and the punch slide ma be lowered and raised an equal number oftimes without producing any effect upon the new sheet of material. aWhen the sheet has been properly ositioned the operator releases thepedal 65.

hould he release the pedal at a time when the punch slide is completingits downward stroke or commencing its upward stroke, durin which thefeed-rolls will be at rest, the ho t 71 will not lock the lever 60 andthe rollseparating means will be permitted to immediately restore therolls to their feeding operation so that, as the punch slidecompletesits upward stroke and commences its downward stroke,the feed-rolls willbecaused to feed the sheet to the proper position to receive the punchor other tools mounted in the press. The feeding will then continue 'lycooperate with the automatically, but intermittently, without furtherattention by the operator. At the end of each downward stroke of thepunch slide the tappets 56, 56' will engage the arms .55, andmomentarily separate the rolls.

as the tools justif the position of the sheet v v cally-operated hold ngmeans by which the just prior to punc ing orotherwise working upon it.As the punch or tool slide ascends 1 ing relationship is prevented. Thismanualit will free the arms 55, 55 and permit the rolls to be restoredto their feeding relationship while still at rest, after which anotherfeedingoperation will be im arted to the sheet while the unch or toolside'com letes its upward stro e'and commencesitfsi oWn'j-W ward stroke.When theworku on the sheet; f at i l h b lete and a g suflicient widthto receive the bolt 71 and thecam 81' in side-by-side relation. To theshaft "82, to which the cam is fixedly secured, is

sheet. is to be inserted, the, Operationjisf re." peated.

If, when the pedal is released after posi i tionin and gaugin .a newplate-tobefed I y cated ins-F 1g..2, in which the feed-rolls may.restiin'their feeding relation, through an aninto t e press,-it sould'fhappenfth punch or tool slide is at' the. up ferjp hook or stop 73 andpre'vent the return ofthe feed-rolls to their feeding.relationship; However, after the rotation of the feed-rolls has ceasedand the toolslide is approaching the end of 'its downward stroke, thecam 78 will engage the roller 77 and cause thebolt 71 to release thehook or stop 73 and permit the roll-separating means to restore therolls to their feeding relationship, thus insuring a feeding operationto be imparted to the newly-inserted plateof exactly the same ex-.sequently imtent as those which will be su parted during the automaticoperation of the machine. V p i I g Under certain circumstances it isiofimportance that the restoration'ofthe feed-rolls to feeding relationshipmay be prevented when the machine is atjrest by means which is not deendent upon: the position of the drive-she t. For example, if itisdesired to use the machine to work on a relatively thin plate, it maynot bep'o'ssible to depend upon the feed-rolls 30, 31 at the'right sideof the machine to advance the plate through the machine to thefeed-rolls 30', 31:, at the left side of the machine. When working onsuch thin material it is the practice to draw the plate entirely throughthe machine while at rest, until its leading end has been passed throughthe feed-rolls 30, 31, which will subsequentrolls 30, 31 at the rightside of the machine to keep the plate flat while it is being workedupon. Should the machine, when stoppedto insert a. thin plate in thismannerfcome to rest with the cam 78 in engagement with the roller 77(Fig. 3), the bar 71 would not hold the rolls 30, 31 separated, and, inthe absence of some other means of accomplishing such purpose, it wouldbe necessary for the operator to keep f its stroke and the feed-rollsare be ng rotated, the bolt 71 will be in'engageinentqwithi the g tlonand thus cause the feed-rolls to be sepfeature of the invention,comprising a manually-operative holding element which may be combinedwiththe above-described automatire'storation of the separated feed-rollsto feedlysoperative holding means, as illustrated in Figs-2 and 3 of thedrawings, comprises a cam 81; fixedly secured to a shaft 82 mounted inthe frame or bracket 83 in which the lever 6Qispivotally mounted at 84.1The hook or to .43',-as bestrepresented in Fig. 6, is of cammay berotated from the position indileof;1 80 to a position in which the cam81 will rotate the lever in a clockwise direc- 85 is restored to itsnormal position. If,

therefore, the machine should come to rest with the bar 71 out ofengagement with the hook or stop 7 3, the feed-rolls may be separated bymeans of the manually-operative device 81, 85, and held separated at thewill of the operator. When it is desired to start the machine themanually-operativeroll-separating means may be restored to normalposition, and, on startin the press, a complete feeding operation Wlllbe imparted to the inserted sheet of material.

. When pre aring the press to receive a new piece of wor z, the gauge 57may be set in any desired position along the arm 55 by loosening thesetscrew 59, after which it may be thoroughly secured in place, and anydlSaI" 'rangement of the mechanism due to the vertical adjustment of thefeed-roll carriage 45 may be compensated for by properly adjusting theeffective length of the push-rod or finger 62.

The invention is not intended to be limited .cluding means formaintaining the holding means ineffective throughout approximately theentire period of rest between each two successive periods of rotation ofsaid rolls.

2. In a machine, the combination with feed-rolls, means forintermittently rotating said rolls and means for separating said rolls,of means whereby said rolls may be held in their separated relation, andmeans whereby the holding means may be intermittently disabled, therotating means and the disabling means being so related that each isrendered effective throughout substantially the entire ineffectiveperiod of the other and neither is rendered effective during aneffective period of the other.

3. In a machine, the combination with feed-rolls, a drive-shaft, meansconnecting said shaft with said rclls whereby the latter may be rotatedintermittently and means for separating said rolls, of a locking deviceto engage a cooperating portion of the rollseparating means if operatedto separate the rolls during a period of rotation, and an operatingelement on said drive-shaft to intermittently cause said locking deviceto be rendered ineffective, said operating element and rotating meansbeing so related as to cause the locking device to be effectivethroughout each rotational period of the rolls and to be renderedineffective throughout substantially the whole of each period of restbetween their successive rotational periods.

4. In a machine, the combination with feed-rolls, means forintermittently rotating said rolls, and means comprising a lever wherebysaid rolls may be separated, of a stop element on said lever, a bolt,means tending to cause said bolt to be moved into the path of movementof said stop when the lever is operated to separate the rolls and thusrevent-the rolls from being restored to a ceding relation, and meansincluding a cam connected in a timed relationship with respect to saidroll-rotating means, whereby said bolt may be withdrawn from the path ofmovement of the stop and held clear of the same while the rolls are atrest, the length and position of the cam being such as to maintain thebolt in its withdrawn position throughout substantially the entireperiod of rest intervening between each two successive periods ofrotation of the rolls.

5. In a machine, the combination with a work-bed, feed-rolls to feedwork over said bed and a movable carriage for said rolls whereby theirpositions with respect to the bed may be adjusted, of a roll-separatingmechanism comprising a driving element mounted on a part of the presshaving a fixed relation with respect to the bed and an element mountedon the roll-carriage in a position such as to be adapted to be driven bysaid driving element.

6. The combination defined by claim 5, of which the driving element andthe driven element comprise two levers each having an arm substantiallyparallel to the direction of movement of the carriage in which the rollsare mounted, said arms being so related as to cooperate with each otheras movementtransnntting means when the carnage is in any of its variouspositions of adjustment with respect to the work-bed.

7. The combination defined by claim 5, of which the driving element andthe driven element comprise two levers each having an arm substantiallyparallel to the direction of movement of the carriage in which the rollsare mounted, said arms being arranged in a spaced side-by.-siderelation, one of them being provided near its free end with a finger ofadjustable length by which movement may be transmitted from one to theother.

8. The combination defined by claim 5, of which the driven elementcomprises a rockshaft having means for moving one of the rolls to beseparated, and a pair of arms, one provided with a gauge tobe-pressed-against a. work-support when the rolls are separated, and onethrough which motion may be transmitted from the driving element to thegauge and roll.

9. The combination defined by claim 5, of which the driven elementcomprises a rockshaft having means for moving one of the rolls to beseparated, and a pair of arms, one provided with a gauge adjustable tovarious positions lengthwise thereof, and one having a finger ofadjustable length through which motion may be transmitted from thedriving element to the gauge and roll.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto my name.

EDWARD V. CRANE.

signed

